US1483361A - Method of reclaiming waste - Google Patents

Description

Feb. l2 1924; 1,483,361

J. P. MCCARTHY METHOD OF RECLAIMING WASTE Original Filec} Oct. 21, 1918 2 Sheets-sheet 1 Feb. 12, 1924.

- 1,483,361 J. P. MCCARTHY METHOD OF RECLAIMING WASTE Original Filed Oct. 21, 1918 2 Shets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb, 12, 3.924.

JAMIE-S P. MCCARTHY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN LAUNDRY MACHINERY COMPANY, OF NORWOOD, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

METHOD RECLAIIMIING WASTE.

application filed October 21, 1918, Serial No. 259,119. Renewed September 18, 1928.

To all whom it my concern: I

fj Be it known that 1, JAMES P. MCCARTHY, citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinow, have invented certain new and useful 'Tmprovements in Methods of Reclaiming Waste, of which the following is a specification. 7 r

This invention relates to a process of reclaiming waste such as is used for the lubrication of journal bearings in railway cars and the similar oil saturated waste used around machine shops,

Such waste has heretofore been removed from the journal box and dumped as a mass into a vat of new lubricating oil heated to about 180. By turning the waste over and over in the heated oil, some of the sand, dirt and metal fragments fall to the bottom,.being washed out by the excess of oil. After several hours treatment the material 'is removed and allowed to drain, whereupon it is laid upon a picking table, where it is fiufied up and picked apart manually. This operation is carried on so as to remove so far as possible the short fibres, metal fragments and sand, dirt and other foreign matter. The removal of short fibres is important, because these fibres are likely to become locked or caught in the corners of the journal boxes so that'they quickly dry out and then overheat and i ite the waste or produce a hot box. The uifedup waste is next impregnated by soaking it with a quantity of new Waste in an oil bath.

'The present invention has "for its object to provide an improved method which can be carried out more rapidly and with less manual labor than other. processes heretofore practiced; which enables practically all of the oil in the waste to be recovered and utilized; which produces a uniform production with practically a standardknown quantity of oil therein; and which insures a cleanly reclaimed product whose value is practically the same as new waste.

,Fnrther objects of the invention are in art obvious and in part will appear more in detail hereinafter.

The invention, comprises the several method steps hereinafter described and claimed. I i In the drawings, which represent apparatus suitable for practicing the method, Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of one form of heating vat; Fig. 2 i's'a similar view of an extractor; Fi 3 is a similar view'of the tumbler; and I ig. 4 is a similar view of an 1m regnator." j

y improved method, briefly stated, consists in firstheating the waste as it is collected or taken-from the journal box so as to increase the fluidity of the lubricating oil therein, but without the addition of any new oil thereto, so as to prevent contamination and possible loss of new oil. The heated waste is then treated in any suitable manner so as to extract the oil therefrom, at least the major part of the oil, so that a very small but known quantity of oil is left therein. At the same time the extracted oil is preferably filtered or cleaned so that the recovered oil is equal in quality and efficiency to new oil. The waste, from which the 011 has been extracted as stated, is next subjected to a well known process known as tum-. bling to separate from the waste all of the foreign material, such as sand, dirt and fragments of Babbitt metal, steel or the like, and also the short fibres, those less than say 2- inches long, the remaining fibres of the material being flufl'ed up or loosened, so as to increase the oil absorbing and holding ability. The cleaned waste is then impregnated with a known quantity, weight for weight, of lubricating oil, in which condition it is again readyfor use in journal bearings.

The'first step of the manufacture, to wit the heating step, may be carried out in any suitable manner. The waste can be heated in any suitable receptacle over a fire, but

preferably is dumped in a mass, as collected from the journal bearings, into a vat such as shown in Fig. 1, said vat comprising a hollowtank 1 having a bottom heating chamber Q'cOntaining a series of heating coils 3 through which steam or any other suitable drain ofl' fromthe waste. Such oilis readily drawn off through a valve controlled opening 4 and may be filtered or otherwise cleaned so that it may be used over again.

The heated product isnext treated in a manner to remove the oil. Preferably this is done in what is known as an extractor, to wit, a form of apparatus in which the oil is removed by centrifugal effect. Several forms of machines suitable for this purpose are available. The one shown in Figure 2 comprises an outer curb or casing 5 in the hollow chamber of which is located a basket 6 carried by a vertical shaft 7 having suitable driving means such as the pulley 8 over which travels the belt 9 from the driving shaft 10. The wall of the basket 6 is provided with a large number of small perforations as indicated at 11. The inner surface of said wall is preferably covered with a lining or layer 12 of filtering materials, such as filter paper or cloth, which may be held in place over the perforations 11 by small vertical rods 13. When the basket is rotated, the oil in the hot waste is thrown out centrifugally and expelled through the filtering material 12 and the perforations 11 of thebasket, so that it is collected in the hollow casing 5 and is drained, off to a container in the usual manner. This filtered oil requires no further treatment as it is so clean that'it can be used immediately in the same manner as new oil. The waste itself is practically dry, in other words, a very large portion of the oil has beenextracted therefrom. Although a very slight quantity of oil remains, this quantity is practically constant so that it can be depended upon in the later impregnation step.

The extracted waste is next subjected to the tumbling operation. In other words, it is enclosed in a tumbling cylinder and is batted back and forth so as to fluff it up and produce other results, as will appear. A number of different forms of tumbler are available for this purpose. The drawings show for the purpose a tumbler of the same general form illustrated in an application Serial Number 211,531, for drying apparatus filed January 12th, 1918, by John J. Dewey. This tumbler comprises an outer casing 14 provided with a hinged door 15 covering an opening to the drying chamber 16, in which is located the rotatable drum 17 having a foraminous wall formed for example of wire mesh screen. The drying chamber 16 communicates through an opening 19 with a screening chamber 20, in which are located one or a plurality of removable screens 21 and a suitable screened air inlet, as shown in Fig. 3. The air current flowing through said screens 21 is received by one or'several centrifugal fans or blowers 22, which force the air backwardly through the passage 23 and thence outwardly to the open atmosphere through the outlet 24, or upwardly through the heating chamber 25, or both, according to the position of the door 26. In the heating chamber 25 are a number of steamheating coils 27 and the upper end of said chamber opens into the drying chamber 16, past the gravity valve or door 28. Door 26 is connected by a link 29 to a bell crank lever 30 operated by the handle 31, which is located in position to be engaged by the door 15.

The operative position of the parts is indicated in dotted lines. Let it be assumed that a mass of the extracted waste is placed in the tumbler cylinder 17. Rotation of said cylinder in the usual manner tumbles the material over and over against the baffles 32, so that it is flufied up and opened out as will be readily understood. During this tumbling treatment the short fibres and foreign matter, such as. sand and metal fragments, separate out and pass through the openings in the screen 18, being carried by the air current down to the collecting screens 21, where they are deposited. By carrying on the treatment for a sufficient length of time, all of this undesirable matter can be collected on the screens 21, and by removing said screens the collected material can be taken off and burned or otherwise treated to recover the Babbitt metal. The fluffed up waste in the cylinder carries a small known quantity of oil and is in condition for impregnatlon with further oil, although it may be used for some purposes without further treatment of any kind.

The impregnation is carried out in any suitable manner, such as by placing a known quantity of the tumbled waste in a hollow rotatable cylinder 33 having a door 34. In the said cylinder is also placed a known quantity of oil proportionate to the weight of the waste. By rotating the cylinder for a suficient length of time, the oil is distributed thoroughly and uniformly throughout the mass of waste, so that the oil content thereof is uniform. This waste is then ready to be used in journal boxes.

The method described not only saves considerable labor, but also recovers considerable oil that is otherwise wasted. It also insures a practically total removal of short fibres and metal fragments, a much more complete removal in fact than it has been possible heretofore to accomplish by hand. At the same time the final product may be impregnated with a definite quantity of oil so that it is of uniform composition and lubricating ability.

What I claim is:

1. The method of reclaiming journal box or other similar waste, comprising extracting the oil therefrom, and tumbling the extracted waste in a current of air to separate the fibres and remove short fibres and foreign matter.

2.. The method of reclaiming journal box or other similar waste, oomprlslng heating the waste without moistening the same to increase the fluidity of the oil therein, ex-

tracting the oil from the heated Waste, and tumbling the extracted waste in a current of air to separate the fibres and remove short fibres and fo eign matter.

3. The method of reclaiming journal box or other similar waste, comprising extracting suilicient oil therefrom to reduce-the oil content to a known average amount, t'nmbling the extracted waste in a current of air to separate the fibres and remove short fibres and foreign matter, and impregnating the product with known quantity of oil.

4. The method of reclaiming journal box or other similar waste, comprising heating the waste without moistening the same to increase the fluidity of the oil therein. extracting sufiicient oil therefrom to reduce the oil content to aknown average amount, tumbling the extracted material in a current of air to separate the fibres and remove short fibres and foreign matter, and impregnating the product with a known quantity of oil.

5. The method of preparing journal box I 6. The method of reclaiming journal box or other similar waste, comprising extracting the oil from said waste and simultaneously filtering said oil to remove foreign matter and thereby recover usable oil, and then tumbling the extracted waste in a current of air to separate the fibres and remove short fibres and foreign matter.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JAMES P. MCCARTHY.

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